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At around four years of use I started to see the gremlins. I read somewhere that iPods are designed to break after three years of use so that the buyer is forced to upgrade, like it or not. First he stopped fulfilling his functional duties: interest in my life, tenderness, generosity in bed and, worst of all, commitment to staying. He started to threaten as though reading from an autocue provided for dysfunctional models.
"I could find someone else you know -- have you seen how many unattached women are out there searching? Desperate? You'd never find and keep another man."
He was right of course so I began to tread gently, asking for nothing but his presence. I used my little tool kit as often as was wise and hoped that maybe, with very little wear and tear, he might be around for another year or so.
It was the mechanical malfunction that did it in the end. A sharp jutting elbow that made me taste blood. He told me afterward, ashamed of his own breakdown and veering so far from his purpose, that he didn't mean to, but I looked into his eyes and realized I couldn't know what was inside him anymore. I realized I couldn't predict how bad things might get.
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